Degrassi: The Next, Next Generation
by Kamama Wyatt
Summary: When beautiful but troubled Vanessa Manning meets her geeky new tutor, she gets a whole lot more than she bargained for. My first foray into fan fiction. Please be kind...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Miss Manning, you are exactly 10 minutes late."

Vanessa Manning flashed her biology teacher a smile. "Sorry Mr. Isaacs. It won't happen again."

"See me after class." Mr. Isaacs said sternly, prompting the rest of the class to snicker.

Vanessa sighed and took a seat in the back of the classroom. She took out a file and began to buff her perfectly polished nails. _Biology is a total waste of time,_ she thought.

Besides, she was so hung over that it was a miracle she managed to make it to first period at all. Last night, she had attended one of her father's concerts in the hopes of spending some quality time with him. But getting a bite to eat with dear old dad after the show was too draining on him. "I'm tired, Nessa. How 'bout some other time?" He had said, giving her a pleading look.

Which was essentially code for: "I'm too busy with my slutty young girlfriend to give my own daughter the time of the day."

So Vanessa had gone to an after party with her father's band mates and got totally wasted. Well, so much for quality time with dad.

After a painful half hour listening to Mr. Isaacs drone on and on about cells, the bell finally rang. Vanessa jumped out of her seat, ready to sprint out of the classroom when Mr. Isaacs stopped her at the door. "Just one moment, Miss Manning."

Mr. Isaacs waited until everyone was out of the room before he spoke. "Vanessa, I'm concerned about your grades in this class."

"Oh," Vanessa said apathetically. "I'll do better on the next test, okay?"

"Vanessa," Mr. Isaacs shook his head. "You're going to have to get at least a B on this next test to pass this course."

Vanessa shrugged. "Okay, so I'll get a B."

Mr. Isaacs raised his eyebrows. "The highest grade you've had so far in this class was a C-. You're going to need some serious help to even get a B. Which is why I've set you up with a tutor."

"A tutor?" Vanessa repeated. "Really, Mr. Isaacs. A tutor isn't necessary."

Mr. Isaacs opened his desk drawer and handed Vanessa a piece of paper. "I called your mom last night, and she agreed with me. A young man from Banting should be coming by your house this afternoon to work with you."

Vanessa looked at the piece of paper. Jamie Talbot, it read. _Hmmm…maybe he'll be cute. _She imagined herself with a hot college student (preferably one who played a varsity sport and had an athlete's body to prove it), going over some kind of science textbook. Suddenly, he'd close the textbook, lean over toward her, and well, the rest would be history.

Or biology.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Isaacs." She smiled brightly. "I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow morning."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

At 3:30 sharp, Manny Santos opened her front door to find a gangly young man wearing glasses and an awkward smile. "You must be Jamie," she said warmly. "Come on in."

James Talbot's eyes widened. "And you're Manny Santos!" He exclaimed.

Manny's face broke into a smile. "That's me," she said proudly.

"Wow, my grandma's going to be stoked that I met you." He said, pushing up his glasses. "_Debauchery Cove_ is her favorite soap opera. She thinks you're the best actress on the show."

"Well, your grandma has good taste," She laughed, reveling in the fact that a young man had recognized her…even if he was kind of a nerd.

Manny sauntered over to the stairway. "Vanessa, get down here! Your tutor's here!"

"Just a second!" Vanessa called.

"Would you like anything to drink, Jamie?" Manny inquired.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm…." Jamie's voice trailed off. "_Fine_."

Vanessa descended the staircase wearing a tight-fitting top and one of her shortest skirts. Her dark brown hair fell in loose waves over her upper back, and her olive skin was glowing. She had enhanced her large, almond-shaped eyes with black eyeliner and had applied a nude lip gloss. She was ready to be tutored.

That was, of course, until she saw Jamie Talbot.

Jamie could not take his eyes off of Vanessa. She was possibly the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. Maybe, since she was 16 and he was a 19 year old college guy—_college man_, he corrected himself—he'd have a chance with her.

Vanessa spent the entire session looking bored. He would ordinarily have been frustrated with such an indifferent client, but she was too gorgeous for him to really mind. He tried to be as patient as possible, trying to track a few jokes. Not once did Vanessa smile.

So he didn't look like some Abercrombie and Fitch model. Big deal. He had brains, humor, personality…those were the things that mattered, right?

Well, not to girls like Vanessa.

"Hey," she finally said. "Let's take a break. Wanna watch TV?"

Jamie nodded. "Sure." He closed the book, happy that she was paying some attention to him. "But only for a few minutes, okay?"

Vanessa began flipping through the channels before she came across a music video countdown. "And here's Manning, with the #5 video in the country," the host was saying.

She laughed and turned the volume up. There was Craig Manning, her aging rock star father acting so sexy. It was kind of pitiful, she thought. She rolled her eyes when her dad winked at some stupid girl in the video.

"I don't like Manning, either." Jamie spoke up. "I mean, some of their early stuff was good, but they're such sell-outs now. Besides, that lead guy is kind of a tool."

Vanessa glared at Jamie. "That lead guy happens to be my father."

Jamie's eyes bugged out. "Craig Manning is your father?" He suddenly wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry," Jamie's eyes grew worried. "I didn't mean that. I mean, that was really rude of me—"

Vanessa shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I mean, he is kind of a tool."

Jamie raised his eyebrows. "I take it you don't like him very much."

"He's a good guy, I guess." Vanessa said. "But he's a crappy father."

Jamie gave her a small smile. "Well, at least you know your dad."

Vanessa was silent. "Is your dad...you know?"

"Dead?" Jamie shrugged. "I think so. I was adopted, and when my parents told me, they said that only my mom was alive."

"I'm sorry," Vanessa said softly. "Do you know your mom?"

He shook his head. "No. I've been meaning to find her, though. That's kind of why I came to Canada for college. To meet her, maybe run into her somehow. But I guess that's kind of wishful thinking."

Or was it?


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or added me to your favorite stories/authors. I really appreciate it! Now, onto the story…

**Chapter Three**

"You've reached Craig Manning's cell. I'm not available to take your call, so please leave a message after the beep. Peace."

"Um, hi. It's me." Vanessa said. "I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner sometime this weekend…I mean, if you don't, that's okay, but…just call me back, okay?"

She hung up the phone with a sigh. There was only a 50/50 chance that her dad would even return her call, but she figured it couldn't hurt to try.

Vanessa was sitting on the plush, velvety couch in the living room, waiting for her tutor to arrive. She felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of the upcoming session. As much as she hated to admit it, she enjoyed spending time with Jamie. She liked his curly brown hair, the way his nose crinkled when he concentrated on a cell diagram, how he smelled like soap and shampoo—not like the boys at Degrassi who always wore way too much cologne.

The door suddenly opened, and Vanessa's ears perked up. Was it Jamie?

"Hi, darling," Her mom appeared in the doorway with the puffy, fish-like lips.

"Oh my God, mom!" Vanessa's exclaimed. "Did someone punch you in the mouth?"

Manny gave her a confused look. "No. I just came back from Dr. Stone's office. He injected some collagen in my lips."

Vanessa looked horrified. "Can you get a refund?"

Before Manny could admonish her daughter, the doorbell rang and Vanessa leapt up. "I'll get it!"

Vanessa ran over to the front door. She smoothed out her hair in the foyer's oval mirror and moistened her lips. She then waited a few seconds before opening the door. "Oh. Hi, Jamie," Vanessa said nonchalantly. "Come in."

"Vanessa, I stopped by Mr. Isaacs's office today and he wanted me to give you something," Jamie said with a grin. He handed her a document that she recognized as the biology exam she had taken last week.

Vanessa snatched the paper hungrily and zeroed in on the grade. She suddenly began to squeal with delight. "I got an 84! I'm going to pass biology!"

She threw her arms around Jamie, who stood there with a stunned half-smile plastered on his face.

"Congratulations, darling." Manny beamed, planting her puffy lips on Vanessa's cheek.

Jamie's eyes widened when he saw Manny's lips. "Ms. Santos, are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

Vanessa held back a smirk. "She's fine. Well, at least physically," she muttered. "Come on, Jamie and help me study. I want to get a 90 on my next test!"

--------

After they had spent an hour and a half going over the difference between RNA and DNA, Jamie closed Vanessa's biology textbook and moved her notebook to the side.

"I have an idea," He said, his voice wavering a bit. "Why don't we, um, go out to eat to celebrate your test? My treat."

Vanessa froze. _Oh my God— it's a date! He's asking me out!_ She was about to happily accept his offer when it hit her.

_It's a __date_ She couldn't date Jamie Talbot, plain and simple. No matter how much she wanted to, she knew better than to agree to a date. "I...I actually have plans tonight." She lied.

"Oh," Jamie said, disappointed. "Well, how about over the weekend? Friday night?"

"I'm kind of busy on Friday. I can't really do weekends." Vanessa fidgeted with her pencil, unable to make eye contact with him.

"Um, that's okay." Jamie muttered. "Maybe some other time." He picked up his backpack and started walking out of the room.

"I guess I'll see you on Monday," Vanessa said, feeling incredibly guilty and bummed out.

"Yeah, see you Monday." Jamie closed the living room door behind him without even looking back at her.

Vanessa sunk down into the couch. _If things were different, I could go out with him_. She thought. _But it would never work. For starters, her friends would never let her hear the end of it. He was way too geeky to ever date._

_Besides,_ Vanessa thought. _If he ever really got to know me, he'd probably hate me. He reads books by writers with weird names, like Dostoyevsky, for fun_. And he listened to jazz, blues and classical music. Her bookshelf, on the other hand, was filled with Gossip Girl books. How could he possibly like a girl who listened to Justin Timberlake and Beyonce?

Vanessa nodded to herself. Yes, she had made the right decision. He was totally not right for her, and it could never last, anyway.

So why did she still feel like she was making a mistake?


End file.
